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The Kentucky Wildcats baseball team will kick off their season today in Durham against the North Carolina Tar Heels.
Led by first-year head coach Nick Mingione, he will look to lead the eight returning starters and new pitching rotation to the next level. The Wildcats finished 2016 with an overall record of 32 wins and 25 losses (15-15 in SEC).
Their last appearance in the NCAA tournament was in 2014 and only conference championship came in 2006. They will look to change their fate after a promising start last season ended up in dropping from a 40+ win pace, to a near .500 win season percentage.
The team, led by their junior utility player Evan White and senior closing pitcher Logan Salow, will look to start just as hot as last season but keep up the pace. Sophmore Tristan Pompey, who is a switch hitter and primarily outfield, has shown some decent plate appearances in both practice and preseason scrimmages.
They will head to face the Tar Heels on the road to start their season Friday, in a three game weekend series. UNC is led by 17 year veteran head coach, Mike Fox, who has two College World Series runner ups, but not the elusive Championship.
The Tar Heels will look to change that as they are expected to perform well with prospective All-American junior pitcher J.B. Bukauskas leading the way and junior utility player Brian Miller leading the offense and defense.
The Wildcats opening series will test them, but a great start against a tough team, could give them momentum. They will face both a difficult non-conference schedule against teams like UNC, UC-Santa Barbara, and Texas A&M, as well as, SEC favorites South Carolina and Florida.
They will have a tough road ahead but have solid talent, which could help them improve on last year. A new leader could be just what the doctor ordered to help them return to SEC glory and into the NCAA tournament.